Evangelical political leaders, eager to enlist an army of religious voters, are building a campaign to get 1,000 church pastors to run for office, believing that their campaigns would awaken 50 million Christian voters who never make it to the polls.

Led by influential evangelical activist David Lane and his well-funded American Renewal Project, and newly endorsed by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, the campaign is aimed at influencing representation locally, in Congress, and putting a Republican sympathetic to Christian views in the White House.